Joint injuries may commonly result in the complete or partial detachment of ligaments, tendons, and soft tissues from bone. Tissue detachment may occur in many ways, e.g., as the result of an accident such as a fall, overexertion during a work related activity, during the course of an athletic event, or in any one of many other situations and/or activities. These types of injuries are generally the result of excess stress or extraordinary forces being placed upon the tissues.
In the case of a partial detachment, commonly referred to under the general term “sprain,” the injury frequently heals without medical intervention, the patient rests, and care is taken not to expose the injury to undue strenuous activities during the healing process. If, however, the ligament or tendon is completely detached from its attachment site on an associated bone or bones, or if it is severed as the result of a traumatic injury, surgical intervention may be necessary to restore full function to the injured joint. A number of conventional surgical procedures exist for re-attaching such tendons and ligaments to bone.
One such procedure involves forming aligned femoral and tibial tunnels in a knee to repair a damaged anterior cruciate ligament (“ACL”). In one ACL repair procedure, a ligament graft is associated with a surgical implant and secured to the femur. A common ACL femoral fixation means includes an elongate “button,” sometimes referred to as a cortical button. The cortical button is attached to a suture loop that is sized to allow an adequate length of a soft tissue graft to lie within the femoral tunnel while providing secure extra-cortical fixation.
Existing devices and methods for surgical repairs have a number of limitations. For example, existing devices and methods do not always provide the desired strength. In some instances, one or more knots tied to help maintain a location of the suture loop with respect to a cortical button, and thus the graft associated therewith, can loosen or slip. Thus, even if a ligament graft is disposed at a desired location during a procedure, post-operatively the circumference of the loop can increase, causing the graft to move away from the desired location. The use of knots in conjunction with existing devices and methods can also be undesirable because of the additional surface area they provide, thereby increasing the risk of trauma at the surgical site.
Existing devices and methods also lack adjustability in many instances. For example, in procedures in which multiple ligament grafts are associated with the cortical button, it can be difficult to control placement of one ligament graft without also moving the other ligament graft. Still further, existing devices and methods often posses suture management issues. Many devices and methods use a plurality of sutures or filaments to guide and manipulate the button and associated ligament graft(s) to desired locations. The filaments can become tangled, difficult to identify during the course of a procedure, and cumbersome due to the total volume of filaments disposed in the bone tunnel. Additionally, although at least some of the filaments used to implant the button can be removed after implantation, it can be difficult to remove the filaments. As a result, in some instances, filaments can remain implanted in the body even though they serve no purpose after button implantation. Portions of filaments located at the surgical site can be cut after the button is delivered. To the extent filaments are cut, however, care should be taken to not cut too much of the filament. In some instances, a sleeve can be disposed around a portion of a filament extending from a knot to help indicate to a surgeon where to cut the filament. The sleeve, however, may bunch within the bone tunnel.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide devices, systems, and methods that improve the strength and adjustability of surgical implants used in conjunction with ligament graft insertion, to minimize the number of knots associated with maintaining a location of the grafts once the grafts are disposed at desired locations, and to make it easy to remove filaments from a surgical site after implantation has occurred.